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Drug smuggling through ‘prime battlefront’ of Hong Kong airport jumps sixfold in first 8 months of year over same period in 2022
- Senior customs official Mark Woo promises more international cooperation to close net around drug smugglers as figures rise
- Heroin and cannabis see biggest increase by weight as traffickers take advantage of end of coronavirus travel restrictions
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The amount of illegal drugs seized from Hong Kong air arrivals has risen sixfold since borders fully reopened last year, the Customs and Excise Department has said.
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But officials on Monday pledged to boost international cooperation to crack down on drug trafficking.
“The airport is our prime battlefront,” Vincent Lee Ka-ming, a senior superintendent who leads the department’s drug investigation bureau, said.
“Drug syndicates tend to use the airport to traffic drugs into the city because transport is fast and they can use scattered small 5 to 10kg [11 to 22lb] parcels to reach Hong Kong.”
He was speaking as customs officials revealed 128kg of illegal drugs were seized from passenger arrivals at the airport between January and August.
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